I'm Not A Writer Whatsoever And Am Currently Listening To The OSPod Publishing Special, And Was Really

There’s a bunch of right-wing people posting memes about “”DOGE”” making the government more efficient by removing funding from “”dumb bug researchers”” and I am now realizing how little the average person knows about entomology and its importance

Excuse me while I get sad .

So here’s my thought, because I don’t think the Archheart is wholly wrong about the gods needing to leave, but I think, as in all things, there’s nuance to that solution. Specifically, I don’t think all of them leaving at once is the best option.

I think the Archheart and whoever the second god is that wants to leave need to take the plunge and go off on their own. Because their argument hinges on this notion that mortaldom cannot grow with them still there, but by refusing to leave without the whole of their family beside them, they too are refusing to grow. To go off on their own and explore the cosmos for themselves. They are waffling on the choice of sticking with their family as they always have or leaving the home they found and made together, just as many of their siblings have waffled on their children VS their siblings. But the thing is, they (the Archheart plus one) know they want the latter choice—leaving—more than they want to stay (and as such stick w the family), so they want to force their family’s hand so they come with and they (Archheart plus one) can get their cake and eat it too.

Which is understandable! With all they’ve been through, all the family they’ve already lost, it makes sense that they don’t want to leave anyone else behind! But in order for them to grow, they need to. And I think, with time, if the Archheart and their fellow did leave, others would follow. Would see that the choice wasn’t as calamitous (heh) as they once feared it might be. Some would stay, because the world needs its constants—the sun, death, hope, nature—and because they care for their children too deeply to stray too far and that would be okay.

Staying close may well be as suffocating as the Archheart believes it to be, but then surely the inverse—severing that tie completely by all abandoning Exandria at once—must be just as harmful. There has to be balance; some stay, some go. Perhaps one day some even come back to visit. But the gods—the Archheart, their fellow, the rest—need to realize they can survive without each other too, just as they want to show mortals they can survive without them. They’re the same, after all.

We must protect them

The thing about Ashton saying "WHAT DO YOU WANT" is that I really do understand that they are coming from a place of great pain and a genuinely awful life (and the Arch Heart doesn't really give a good answer either, which is similarly frustrating) but we keep getting this answer throughout the campaign, if not for the Arch Heart at least for other deities, and it's that most simple and also frustrating of answers: consistent effort.

Why did FCG catch the eye of the Changebringer? consistent, repeated prayer, even if it wasn't perfect and could get kind of silly or even annoying to others. Orym is not a worshiper of the Wildmother, but he still repeatedly has reached out and tried to talk to her in good faith (pun unintended). And looking back at others from past campaigns, we learn of their ongoing service - in the cases of those who are introduced as already faithful, often from a young age (Pike, Caduceus, Jester though her deity is not one of the Prime/Betrayer pantheons). Both Vax and Fjord made considerable sacrifices of their own without promises from the gods first, in addition to smaller, regular moments of worship in the course of their stories.

I've never loved the line about there being no atheists in foxholes, because frankly I think it's unfair to atheists and paints them as selfish, fickle, and spineless when many atheists are none of those things. But I do think that a lot of the anti-god arguments fit into that sort of philosophy, that the gods are only to be paid attention to in the moment of great and desperate need and neglected otherwise, and we've seen the attendants of temples repeatedly say that isn't how it works; it takes time. The gods don't necessarily answer a single yell off the cliffs of Zephrah or a single visit, but they do see the repetition and respond to that.

I think everyone in the fandom, regardless of how they feel about the gods, understands there's not going to be a quick easy painless fix to this mess once Ludinus set it in motion, but I do think a lot of people expect there to be a lot of quick fixes to other things (in the story, in fandom, and in real life). And yeah, it does suck that Ashton, having a terrible time, might have had more luck had they prayed or gone to the same temple regularly for a while without necessarily seeing results...but it's also very real. You do have to take your stupid mental health walks regularly for a while (let alone your meds) before there's a payoff. you do still need to do the dishes while you're depressed or sick lest they pile up and make things worse. consistent effort that doesn't always have immediate satisfying results is extremely unglamorous and also it's how you have to do basically everything in life. Even in a time of crisis you need to avert the crisis and then get back to the slow and consistent work of fixing it and improving things in the aftermath.

"It took me TWO years to finish this sketch book!" Well that's cuz you're not fuckin sketching. Those are fully painted pieces dawg that's a renderedbook. I've gone through four sketchbooks in my off time this year alone I just draw stupid faces and shit for fun. pussy up like the rest of us and start drawing stick figures with guns

comic done for a project assignment a few years back!

My personal theory is that his especial intrigue with death is born from the fact that there’s probably not a lot of beauty right now. There’s been a lot of talk of how Asha is withering and not in a good place right now because her domain is withered, but I can’t imagine ANY of the gods have a healthy domain right now. The Sun is choked with smoke, the “last bastion of civilization” is festering with hatred, nature is withering, redemption just had all her followers wiped out.

And people are trying to survive. Not make art not find beauty in the world. Survive. The arch heart carved out a beautiful space, one. But can he really be happy if the last beautiful place in the world is nestled like a parasite in the heart of a place that despises him? If it has to be secret and guarded because it can and will be destroyed if found by the wrong person? If he knows the moment he creates it that it will not fade gracefully like a flower or a painting or a glorious sunset, but it will be destroyed abruptly and painfully?

If the Arch Heart is still around, I think the reason is likely that every god has done a lot of healing, and is doing a lot of healing from the Calamity. But it’s important to remember in the moment we find them, none of them have flourishing domains and all of them are coping in different ways.

It's interesting to bear witness to Emhira/The Matron's offer to kill S.I.L.A.H.A/Corellon because they were tired and intrigued by the notion of permanent nothing. Mostly because it raises a very interesting (and important) question for both Downfall and C3's narrative:

What, if anything, changed?

It's been hundreds of years since the Calamity, and The Arch Heart is still a prominent and heavily worshipped deity across a wide range of groups. Corellon, and any others sharing their sentiment, still have not made the choice to die, despite the means and motive being presented to them a long time ago. Even now, when threatened with the return of Predathos - they're moving in tandem with all of their other siblings, marshalling their forces and gathering strength

Did the Arch Heart have an epiphany between the start of Downfall and the end of Calamity? A moment where they realised that they genuinely do not want to die? Or perhaps they're still intrigued by the notion of nothingness, yet only stay alive to continue fulfilling their purpose to their siblings, worshippers, and Exandria?

It may very well be a question that gets answered in Downfall Part III, but for now it'll keep rotating in my head like a lazy cat on a lazy susan

look at me. listen to me. this is directed at americans for the record. the reason you think North American animals are boring is because you live here. there are so many cool and beautiful animals here. we have beavers. we have wolves. we have moose. we have sea lions. we have armadillos. we have mountain lions. we have alligators. we have foxes. we have bighorn sheep. we have manatees. we have bears. we have ocelots. we have BISON. and that’s not even touching on the birds! or the turtles! or the snakes! we have amazing beautiful and diverse wildlife right here and it deserves to be appreciated and protected

Critters have given a million different reasons as to why we should or shouldn't kill the gods (myself included lol), but for me, it ultimately comes down to the fact that they're my blorbos and I love them. My fucked up little guys.